Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson has requested a trade from the organization, saying the team “has not been interested in meeting my value.”

Jackson revealed the trade request via Twitter on March 27, saying that he made the request on March 2 with negotiations between the team and Jackson seemingly at an impasse after well more than a year. That was five days before the Ravens placed the nonexclusive franchise tag on Jackson, which prevented him from hitting unrestricted free agency but also opened the door to him entertaining offers from other teams.

Two weeks later, no offers had come forth. The Ravens, by virtue of using the nonexclusive franchise tag, would have the right to match any offer, or receive two first-round draft picks in return as compensation for losing Jackson.

Meeting with the media at the owners meeting in Arizona, head coach John Harbaugh continued to express his support of Jackson and optimism that the former unanimous league Most Valuable Player would be the team’s quarterback going forward.

Yet just as Harbaugh began his news conference, Jackson released a three-tweet thread as a “letter to my Fans,” in which he thanked them for their support and then noted:

The trade request was the latest twist in the relationship between Jackson and the team that has veered into the unpredictable and at times downright bizarre, during the past few months.

Last week, the NFL revealed that a person named Ken Francis might be attempting to persuade teams to enter into negotiations with Jackson. But Francis is not an agent certified by the NFL Players Association, and therefore by rule of the current Collective Bargaining Agreement, is prohibited from being involved in any such negotiations. Jackson is one of the few NFL players who does not have an agent.

Francis is a business partner of Jackson’s, and on the same day the Francis NFLPA story broke, Jackson tweeted a promotional video teasing about a portable gym product that the two are involved in and releasing this coming summer.

The Ravens, of course, hoped to have Jackson on the field this spring and summer for new offensive coordinator Todd Monken, but that is looking increasingly unlikely.

Throughout the past year or more, Harbaugh and general manager Eric DeCosta have publicly expressed optimism that the team would work out a long-term extension with their franchise quarterback, who exploded onto the scene in his second season in 2019. He led the Ravens to a franchise-record 14-2 mark and was the league’s unanimous MVP after a season in which he led the league in touchdown passes (36) and set an all-time NFL record for rushing yards by a quarterback (1,206).

The top-seeded Ravens, though, were upset by Tennessee in their first playoff game that year and have failed to replicate that success since.

In each of the past two seasons, Jackson missed the final month of the season with injuries. This past year, the Ravens finished 10-7 and earned a wild-card berth to the postseason but lost their opening-round playoff game to the Cincinnati Bengals. Jackson missed the final five games of the regular season plus the playoff game with a knee injury.

DeCosta and Jackson both said before the 2022 season began that the two sides were shelving contract talks until after the season. DeCosta after the season had continued to express optimism a deal could get done before the franchise tag deadline, while Jackson has not met with the media since December, and his only public comments — including the trade request — have come via social media.

Jackson is thought to be looking for a contract in the neighborhood of the widely criticized, fully guaranteed five-year, $230 million deal the Cleveland Browns gave to Deshaun Watson last year. DeCosta and the Ravens rarely make any negotiations public, but other than Watson’s, NFL owners have shown no inclination to give fully guaranteed deals.

With Jackson drawing no interest, even from quarterback needy teams, some observers charge that owners are colluding against Jackson and the idea of fully guaranteed deals. Others point to Jackson’s injury history of the past two years, the price tag that would include two future first-round picks, and the Ravens right to match any offer as reasons not to pursue such a costly deal.

All the while, Jackson’s nonexclusive franchise tender has squeezed the Ravens ability to address other roster needs because of a tight salary cap situation. The Ravens are on the hook for $32 million in cap space if Jackson plays on the nonexclusive tender, but they also could potentially want cap flexibility to match any offer sheet made for Jackson.

Then again, with Jackson’s trade request now public, the Ravens might be more inclined to decline to match an offer and take two first-round picks for their franchise quarterback, an exchange rate that appeared to be badly undervalued just two months ago.

As with everything else involving Jackson, the story seems to turn by the day.

Photo Credit: Kenya Allen/PressBox

Bo Smolka

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